Piezoelectric Arms
(AKA Piezo Arms) In the 4th century, the Company of Seven was transported to an alternate material plane which was much more technologically advanced that Oerth. The paladin of Heironeus Murlynd returned carrying a pair of strange weapons which used chemical energy released by igniting a powder to propel a projectile at deadly speeds. As his own status grew, and he eventually became a hero-god over the purview of magical technology, sponsoring a special sect of paladins of Heironeus known as the White Paladins, these weapons grew in use, but the exact nature of the powder that powers their projectiles is a closely guarded secret, and supplies of the powder are fairly small. The Gunfiend School It didn’t take too long for some uppity knight errant to bite off more than he could chew, get killed by a fiend, and have his magic weapons looted from his corpse. The ultroloth Q’ternat experimented for several years with the weapons, learning how to use them, and then developing his skill with them, quickly rocketing up the yugoloth hierarchy and becoming a unique yugoloth, known as the Gunfiend as often as by his true name. He began teaching others, not just other yugoloths, but anyone who could pay, and so the art of firearm make and use grew out of control of the Order of Murlynd. The Gunfiend School grew beyond Q’ternat as well, and what started as the work of enterprising evil became a fairly neutral loose affiliation of adventurers who trained and worked together. Piezo Arms Relatively recently someone--it's unsure whether they were a White Paladin or a Gunfiend Disciple--found a certain type of crystal, dubbed Piezo Crystals because they naturally carried a powerful electric charge and released it when it struck a conductive surface. Shortly after this discovery, a new type of firearm began to appear, which used the electrical charge of Piezo Crystals to create short lived magnets to propel ferrous bullets. Piezo crystals are not perpetual resources. The total amount of energy is limited by the size of the crystal, while the amount of energy used to drive a projectile depends on the size of the projectile (though the amount used is determined by the construction of the arm. Using smaller projectiles than the gun was designed to fire will not extend the life of the crystal). Strength Scores-'' Piezo arms produce a great amount of force, sufficient to punch through some armor and shatter objects. When firing a piezo arm, add the weapon's strength modifier to both your attack and damage with the weapon. Piezo arms can also be used to break objects, such as locks or chains. In this case, make a strength check as normal, but add the weapon's strength modifier in place of your own and add the weapon's average damage (remember- the average result of a die is 1/2 the highest number, plus .5. Thus the average of a d4 is 2.5 and the average of 2d4 is 5). '''Holdout Pistol-' These small piezo arms are designed as a last ditch or emergency weapon, and hold just three shots. Reloading requires completely disassembling the gun and is thus unfeasible in combat. Holdout pistols can be hidden on the person with a successful Sleight of Hand check, and are small enough to grant a +4 bonus to your check. 'Punching Pistol-' Punching pistols are piezo arms built into the blades of punching daggers designed to be fired immediately after making a melee attack with the weapon. They can be fired normally, but are not designed to be used outside of arms length and thus have poor range. Otherwise, use the punching pistol as a normal punching dagger (using proficiencies, damage, crit range, etc). On a successful hit with the dagger, you may make a free attack with the pistol, firing three bullets into your target which automatically hit and deal the indicated damage. If the punching dagger crits, so to does this free attack.